What Ifs
by HollowBird
Summary: ItaSaku, non-massacre. Small stories I write to learn more about the characters and the world they live in. Rated T because...the future is possible.


Hello. ItaSaku, non-massacre. The actual plot where this episode takes place...you won't know it for a long, long time.

This is given as incomplete because I don't know if I'll write more like this. This is just a small exercise for me to learn about and get comfortable with the characters. I'm planning a fanfiction about Itachi and Sakura for the future and I want to make sure I won't fail miserably. So this or these will be for me to just get the puzzle pieces into place. Since it's just an exercise, it's not edited or anything. I haven't even read it before posting it. For now I just want to poke and push until I get into my comfort zone.

Without further ado. Enjoy.

**What Ifs**

It didn't feel like five minutes had passed when Itachi woke up. There was shouting downstairs. He sighed and sat up in his bed, passing a hand through his hair. His baby brother's voice was part of the shouting.

He just listened to the angry fighting for a while before hearing his mother's voice above it, telling the "boys" to quiet down. That solved the mystery. His ka-chan had told Itachi before that Sasuke's team would be coming over some time for dinner. The shouting was probably between the younger Uchiha and Uzumaki Naruto.

Rubbing his face to push away the last signs of sleep and tying his hair back in his usual low ponytail, Itachi slowly rose from bed and left his bedroom. Only to come face to face with what was now a rather flustered, pink haired pre teen.

"I-Itachi-san," she began stuttering, blushing three different shades of red one after the other as she tried to explain why she was walking right in front of his room. The words "bathroom" and "Mikoto-san" the only ones clear to Itachi as the girl, probably Haruno Sakura, started going purple. Had she stopped breathing?

After a prolonged inside sigh, Itachi offered the girl a small smile before pointing at a door further down the corridor. "That way," he offered and waited until she realized what he had just said and turned to rush to the door. The day his ka-chan had told him Naruto and Sakura were coming over she had warned him against teasing them too badly. Not everyone could actually take it, she had explained. But he couldn't help himself. "Next time you need to ask something, it'll help if you breathe," he said before the door closed. Itachi could still hear the yelp though.

Downstairs, he greeted his ka-chan before patting his brother's head and nodding at Naruto. "Sasuke-chan, go call your oto-chan so we can eat dinner," Mikoto asked Sasuke. "Sakura-chan should be down soon…" The way his ka-chan said Sakura's name almost made Itachi smile. He knew very well how Mikoto had always wanted a cute little girl. Being stuck with a family of males when you were as feminine as his ka-chan was sure to be stressful. Mikoto would probably dote on Sakura and cover the poor girl in attentions as long as the pink haired kunoichi allowed.

Soon enough both his to-san and Sakura came and everyone sat at the table. Fugaku and Mikoto at their respective heads, Naruto and Sasuke on one side and Itachi and Sakura on the other. It was obvious the young girl wasn't feeling too comfortable but she was making an effort to keep up with Mikoto's endless happy chatter.

"Sakura-chan," the older woman said as she piled food on the pinkette's plate, "you need to eat more. Young girls like you should eat plenty so they can grow up strong. Sakura-chan, here, try some of these vegetables and eat plenty of rice. Rice will make your hair pretty and strong, Sakura-chan. Isn't that right Itachi-chan?"

"Of course, ka-chan."

"Sakura-chan, when's you're birthday? Do you go to festivals? Do you wear a yukata when you do? You know, I have some left from my younger days that would look wonderful on you… And you have such lovely hair, you'll need to let me help you arrange it sometime, Sakura-chan. Sakura-chan...Sakura-chan…Sa-ku-ra-chan!"

By now, Itachi was already breaking a sweat trying to keep himself from grinning widely both at his ka-chan's attention and the way the young kunoichi blushed and nodded her way through everything. Fugaku was just eating peacefully as always, not really paying much attention to what was going on. In front of Itachi, Sasuke and Naruto were breaking into quiet little wars over the food but at least they were keeping it in check. Mikoto's reprimand must've made a number on them.

However, it was hard not to take pity on "Sa-ku-ra-chan" as the girl bravely tried to eat everything on her plate. The young girl was obviously struggling over what to do if Mikoto just kept piling food on her plate, which his ka-chan did with a happy smile. Even Fugaku was looking at the plate and then the girl, probably trying to calculate how much she'd be able to take before passing out.

Silently, Itachi reached over and started stealing bits of food every now and then, trying to ease the girl's burden at least in the food department. It kind of back stepped though, when the girl blushed even harder and began to lightly shake in her seat as if some kind of ticking bomb. He was looking forward to see hers but a different kind of explosion suddenly went off on the other side of the table, distracting Sakura into changing her skin back to a normal color.

Both Naruto and Sasuke had their chopsticks on the same piece of chicken. The last one, actually. And were glaring daggers at each other.

"That's my chicken, dobe. My chicken. Get your chopsticks off it." Sasuke growled.

"I grabbed the chicken first, teme!"

Their faces were getting dangerously close as they argued over the last piece of chicken in the table. Fugaku just continued to eat as if he had already expected something like this to happen. Mikoto sighed and shook her head, mumbling something about more chicken back in the kitchen. Sakura, however, had a vein dangerously popping in her temple, her chopsticks shaking with her hand.

"You wanna fight, dobe?!"

"Bring it on, teme!"

Before any of the boys could make a move, though, Sakura got up and walked around the table until she stood behind them. "Both of you…" She started to say between her teeth.

"Sakura-chan, don't interfere," Naruto complained without taking his eyes off Sasuke.

The young Uchiha did the same as he added his answer. "Go back to your seat, Sakura."

"SHUT UP!" The girl finally exploded, grabbing them both by the backs of their heads and smashing them quite loudly against their plates. It was a wonder how they didn't break. "Listen up," she growled while rubbing their faces in the rice. "We are visiting Sasuke's house for dinner, you understand? And you're shaming Team 7 with your stupid couple fighting." She lowered herself until she was almost growling into their ears. "If you want to fight then do it tomorrow in the training grounds. For now, BEHAVE!"

"Sorry Sakura-chan," both the boys said at the same time, with the same tone of voice. As if this was what normally happened each time they ate together.

His oto-san looked rather surprised but pleased at the show of strength from the girl. His ka-chan just looked happy again as Sakura walked to sit back in her place and resumed her previous chatter. Itachi looked at his little brother's and team mate's heads still stuck in the plates with a small smile, feeling rather sorry for the boys.

"Is it always like this Sakura-chan?" He asked the girl sitting beside him.

The boys slowly lifted their faces, looking ashamed and rather sorry for themselves as they quickly wiped out any remains of food from their faces. Itachi didn't miss how they both still reached for the chicken as soon as they were done. Apparently, Sakura also noticed because, with a swift movement of her chopsticks, she grabbed the chicken and stuffed it into her mouth.

She chewed slowly, keeping Naruto's and Sasuke's attention on her while she glared them into submission. "Worse Itachi-san," she answered after swallowing. "Kakashi-sensei is usually with us."


End file.
